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05-2018 Dbobenchain DIANE BURDETTE OBENCHAIN Major Fields: Christian Engagement with People of Other Faith; Christian Mission and World Christianity; Comparative History of Global Religion; Chinese traditions: Confucian, Daoist, Buddhist; Chinese Christianity; Methods in the Study of Religion Other Specializations: Japanese Shinto, Buddhism, Confucianism, Christianity Traditions of West, South, and Southeast Asia: Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Christian The History of the Academic Study of Religion in the West Present Position: Director of the China Initiative, Fuller Theological Seminary Professor of Religion, School of Intercultural Studies, Fuller Theological Seminary Previous Positions: Full Professor with tenure, Religious Studies, Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI, USA (January 31, 2005 to June 30, 2014) Visiting Professor, Religious Studies, Fudan University, Shanghai (Fall 2004) Visiting Prof., Dept. of Phil. and Religious Studies, Zhejiang University (Spring 2004) Visiting Scholar, Yale Divinity School (January 2003- January 2004) Fellow, The Caspersen School of Graduate Studies, Drew University (2001 -- present) Consultant for the United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia (1995-2005) Visiting Professor, Dept. of Phil. and Religious Studies, Peking University (1988-2003) Tenured, Associate Professor of Religion, Kenyon College 1988-1993 Assistant Professor of Religion at Kenyon College 1980-1988 EDUCATION Ph.D. Harvard University, 1984 Comparative History of Religion (Specialization: Confucianism) M.A. Stanford University, 1974 East Asian Studies (Specialization: Chinese Linguistics and Philosophy) M.A. Stanford University, 1972 Philosophy of Education (Specialization: Chinese Philosophy) B.A. Drew University, 1970 Religion, Summa Cum Laude, Honors in Religion Stanford Inter-University Program for Chinese Language Study in Taipei, 1973-74 PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE Fuller Theological Seminary (present) Director of the China Initiative Professor Religion, School of Intercultural Studies (SIS) Calvin College 2005- 2014 Full Professor of Religious Studies Christian Engagement with People of Other Faith (World Religions) Introduction to Mission Upper level courses: 1) Chinese Thought and Culture; 2) Islam, 3) Confucianism, 4) Buddhism, 5) Hinduism Methods in the Academic Study of Religion Calvin Theological Seminary Adjunct Professor; Loving Your Muslim Neighbor Christian Engagement with People of Other Faith (with Prof. J. Bolt) Peking University 1988-2002 Visiting Professor of Religious Studies; teaching in Mandarin Introduction to the History of the Study of Religion in the West Issues in the Comparative Study of Religion (graduate seminar) Zhejiang University Spring 2004 Visiting Professor of Religious Studies; teaching in Mandarin Fudan University Fall 2004 Visiting Professor of Religious Studies; teaching in Mandarin National University of Singapore 1990-93 Visiting Teaching Fellow (full-time; courses taught in English) Introduction to Chinese Philosophy Diane B. Obenchain, Page 2 Advanced Chinese Philosophy: Confucianism and Buddhism Small Group Tutorials in Chinese Philosophy Waseda University 1987-88 Resident Director of Exchange Program, Visiting Professor Kenyon College 1980-1993 Associate Professor 1988-93; Assistant Professor 1980-87 Chinese Religion in Literature and Art; Japanese Religion in Literature and Art; Confucius and Zhuangzi; Buddhist Texts (India, China, Japan); Modern Hindu Mystics; Spiritual Quests of 20th Century Women: India, China, Japan; Introduction to the Experience and Expression of Religion; Senior Seminar in Religion Spiritual Quests of 20th Century Women: China, Japan, West OFFICIAL Leave from Kenyon College (as a tenured member of the Kenyon Faculty): 1993-1994 Visiting Scholar, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore 1990-1993 Teaching Fellow, Department of Philosophy, National University of Singapore 1989-1990 Research Fellow, Institute of East Asian Philosophies, Singapore 1988-1989 Visiting Professor, Philosophy, Peking University (sabbatical year, Kenyon College) 1987-1988 Resident Director, GLCA-ACM Japan Study, Waseda University (service to College) ACADEMIC HONORS AND AWARDS McGregor Fellowship, Calvin College, Summer 2006. Commendation Award and Prize for translating and editing Feng Youlan’s New Edition of the History of Chinese Philosophy, Vol. 7, from the Committee for the History of Chinese Philosophy and the Committee for Feng Youlan Research, Nov. 5, 2005, Peking University, Beijing, China. Harvard University Fellowships 1974-76 National Defense Foreign Language Fellowships: Harvard 1976-78; Stanford 1972-73 Stanford University Fellowships 1972-74 Summa cum laude, with Honors in Religion, Sigma Phi Scholastic Honors Society, Drew University 1970 GRANTS RECEIVED Calvin College Research Fellowship (CRF) for one course reduction, Fall 2007 $4,000 from Freeman Grant Funds to Asian Studies at Calvin College to fund student work on Small Dictionary for the Study of Religion in English and Chinese, funded also by The Henry Luce Foundation. Faculty Teaching Fellows, Calvin College, grant of $1500.00, Dec. 2006, for academic films for World Religions Visiting Professor Grant, United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia, for teaching an intensive two-week course on “Restorative Justice and Its Spiritual Roots”, at the Institute for Christian and Cross-Cultural Research, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China, June 14-June 30, 2006. Small Dictionary for the Study of Religion in English and Chinese, $90,000.00 from The Henry Luce Foundation Visiting Professor Grants, United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia, for teaching Religious Studies at Peking University, 1995-2002, Zhejiang University 2004 (Spring), and Fudan University 2004 (Fall). One-year Research Fellowship, Institute of East Asian Philosophies, Singapore 1989-90. Kenyon College Sabbatical Grant for research/teaching in People's Republic of China, 1988-89. National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Research Grant, 1986. Kenyon College Faculty Development Grants: 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988. Great Lakes Colleges Association Japan Studies Grant for study/travel in Japan, 1984. PH.D. DISSERTATION (HARVARD) Title: Ministers of the Moral Order: Innovations of the Early Zhou Kings, the Duke of Zhou, Zhongni and Ru Readers: Professor Benjamin I. Schwartz (History); Professor Wilfred Cantwell Smith (Chair, Study of Religion); Professor Tu Wei-ming (Chair, East Asian Languages Civilization) Précis: The translation of the Chinese term Ru into English as "Confucianism" is misleading. Ru, in Chinese, refers generally to 1) the study, teaching and transmission of the cumulative, oral-written record (wen) of the way of the ancient sage-kings and more specifically to 2) the cultivation of moral character to assist a Diane B. Obenchain, Page 3 leader in caring for the people, as the sage-kings did. Because 1) both types of activity were in practice long before Kong Zi (Confucius), 2) Kong Zi's instruction concerned both but primarily the second kind of activity, and 3) many more Ru have been engaged in the first activity and not the second, translating Ru as "Confucianism" is not most informative. Comprehension of the early meaning and use of Ru in the Warring States period (600-250 B.C.) offers greater access to the enduring value of the Ru legacy. LANGUAGE PROFICIENCIES Chinese: Professional-level fluency (able to lecture comfortably on philosophy, religion, other topics) 1974-2004; speaking, reading, writing Chinese since 1969. Classical: Excellent. Japanese: Fluency in everyday spoken Japanese 1984-88; courtesy level retained in speaking and listening comprehension: good reading comprehension. French: Fluency 1966-71; good reading level retained. German: Reading ability in "theological German"; examination passed for Ph.D. 1975. Sanskrit: One year academic study of Sanskrit. PUBLICATIONS I. BOOKS PUBLISHED God and Globalization: Theological Ethics in a Pluralistic World. Max L. Stackhouse, General Editor, with Peter Paris, Don Browning, and Diane B. Obenchain. Volume Three: Christ and the Dominions of Civilization., ed. by Max L. Stackhouse with Diane B. Obenchain. Trinity Press International, Harrisburg, PA., 2002. Feng Youlan [Fung Yu-lan]: Something Exists, Selected Papers of the International Research Seminar on the Thought of Feng Youlan, Journal of Chinese Philosophy, Volume 21, Nos. 3/4, September/December 1994, Diane B. Obenchain as special editor and translator for entire volume of collected essays by leading Chinese philosophers (475 pages). Introduction (115 pages) and Afterword (30 pages) by Diane B. Obenchain. Volume commemorates the philosophy of Feng Youlan, foremost Chinese philosopher of the twentieth century. Christian Engagement with People of Other Faith Traditions: A Reader, compiled by Diane B. Obenchain and formatted by Dale R Williams, printed by The Calvin Center for Christian Scholarship (CCCS) for Calvin College Faculty Workshop, sponsored by The Nagel Institute for World Christianity, The Teaching and Learning Network, and CCCS, with Mwenda Ntarangwi and Susan Felch, co-leaders, June 4-7, 2012, 207 pages. BOOKS IN PROGRESS A Small Dictionary for the Study of Religion in English and Chinese, Diane B. Obenchain, Project Director, Author and Editor and He Guanghu, Project Co-Director (Center for the Study of Christianity, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences), Translator and Editor. Funded by The Henry Luce Foundation with a $90,000.00. Estimated date of completion 2016. Introduction to the Study of
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